I'm surprised how many people think IL/Chicago is nice. It's not! In the winter the temperature rarely gets below 20 degrees, but the wind makes it feel like it's -20. Brrr.... You have to idle the car for 2-5 minutes before you can drive it. The summers are average, they may be cool, but they may be hot and humid and stay that way for months at a time. Three years ago (i think) we had a particularly bad one, three thunderstorms in a row each night, but the trmperature still close to a 100 next day! The highways are the worst though. Can you believe the official speed limit on the highways is 55 here? Come on, are you fvscking kidding me? I drove faster than that during my first time behind the wheel. And highways themselves are a joke, bumps and potholes all the way, seriously I've driven through ~8-10 states and IL is the worst. And not to mention Blagojevich and his stupid laws that made driving even worse. Apparently the left lane now is only for passing trafic and since the majority of highways in IL are three lane, that effectively makes them two lane. Then his tolls idea, I don't use highways that much but I had to buy that fvsking pass because the tolls are now twice as expensive than the pass. So it's either pay premium each time you use tollways or unconditionally loan your state $50 free of interest. Bastards. And then, the most recent invention, speeding cameras in trucks on highway in construction zone who will enforce the stupid speed limit. Of course, how do I know they won't tamper with it? Who prevents them from shooting me while I'm going 38 and claiming I'm driving 55? The fines are just stupid as well, $300+ for the first offense, $1000 for the second and possible license revocation. While we are on topic of fines, they just recently proposed to raise fines for parking in the handicapped space up to $500. Seiously the greed knows no limits. Three-four years ago I used to go to Indiana Dunes to the beaches, not anymore. They started construction along 294/94 two years ago, and are still at it. They had two years and they still can't fix the damn road? Ironically enough, the traffic is now even worse than before they started construction. The traffic jam now extends 5 miles into Indiana! What previously took 75 minutes to get to Indiana Dunes now takes three hours. I like it there, but I'm not about to waste 6 hours going there and back. The gas prices are also among the highest in the nation, there was a thread not so long ago about gas prices dropping below $2 per gallon, not here! It's still at least $2.25 for the regular. And guess the average parking meter fee in downtown Chicago? 25 cents for 15 minutes. Ridiculous. And the job market isn't all that hot, at least for IT. The cost of housing/medical on the other hand is among the highest in the nation. Anyway, as soon as I have a degree and as soon as the first opportunity presents itself, I'm gone!